By Scott Gilfoid: 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua has signed a pro contract with Matchroom Sport, and he’s expected to make his pro debut in three months on October 5th at the O2 Arena in London, UK in a fight that will be televised by Sky, according to Live Fight.
Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport is snatching up a lot of the top fighters in the UK, thanks in part with his contract to have his fighters’ televised on Sky. It’s like a magnet to attract the best fighters in the UK to his stable.
The 6’6” Joshua had talked about wanting to take part in the 2016 Olympics to try and capture a second super heavyweight Olympic gold medal, but it looks like he’s seen the light and figured he’s be better off turning pro. Joshua is only 23, so in theory it would have been possible for him to fight for another Olympic Gold medal and still be only 26 or 27 when he would turn pro.
I think it’s a wise move for Joshua to turn pro, because he AWFULLY lucky to have won the gold medal last year in the 2012 London Olympics, as I had him losing to all four of his opponents in the Olympics. I clearly had Joshua getting beaten by Cuban Erislandy Savon, Kazakhstan fighter, Ivan Dychko and Italian Roberto Cammarelle. I also had him losing to China’s Zhilei Zhang.
I saw a lot of arm punching by Joshua and a lack of real power, speed or stamina. I think those are factors that are going to hinder Joshua’s chances of success at the pro level.
In terms of size, Joshua is a huge fighter, but his power doesn’t match his size for some reason and he’s not as busy as some of the other UK fighters like Tyson Fury. I rate David Haye, Dereck Chisora and David Price as being better punchers than Joshua.
I see Joshua as someone that will be more of a boxer than a puncher at the pro level. He’s going to have to work on his stamina big time because he looked gassed out in the 4 rounds carrying around all that muscle. He wasn’t like Lennox Lewis, who could actually punch and who didn’t look tired in his fights in the Olympics. Joshua looked exhausted in all of his fights.
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